


would you let me pretend: christmas in july?

by comfortcrowd



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluffy with a side of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25269241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comfortcrowd/pseuds/comfortcrowd
Summary: “Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” Hope asked, a little helplessly.The blonde twin rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Josie decided she wanted Christmas in July.” She walked over and grabbed a cookie that was done cooling from the rack. Through a mouthful of cookie she explained, “Christmas in October was, well, a huge mess. Christmas in December was bittersweet because of Christmas in October so-”“- Christmas in July!” Josie exclaimed happily, smiling wide.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 10
Kudos: 182





	would you let me pretend: christmas in july?

**Author's Note:**

> title from christmas in july by sufjan stevens

Josie Saltzman is, and always will be, utterly devoted to celebrating Christmas. From decorating her and Lizzie’s dorm room every year to baking her infamous shortbread cookies, the siphoner fell in love with Christmas time activities. Because of this, and Hope’s attention to the details surrounding Josie (which doesn’t mean anything), the tribrid assumes she should have expected it to get to this eventually.

She woke up late in the morning because for once, her schedule allowed it. Her sparring sessions with Alaric grew less frequent over the summer months. Over time, the both of them realized that the less students in the school, the less often monsters attacked. The sparring sessions weren’t abandoned entirely -- Alaric still insisted that without training it would be more difficult to maintain their form and athleticism. Hope figured that they fought monsters enough that the two of them would be fine, but she let it go. She knew that she had to pick her battles with Alaric. 

The entire school smelt like cookies. And not just any cookie, but her favourite, shortbread. It smelt similar to around Christmas time, when she would wake up bright and early to train and would come back only to be hit with the smell of sugar and shortbread cookies, hot chocolate, and more. 

When she checked the window in her room, she re-confirmed that there was no snow on the ground, or December chill that came with it. Hope pondered the idea of it being the work of a monster, but Santa had killed the monster behind early Christmases in October of that year, so that didn’t make much sense. 

After getting dressed in her room, she followed the smell throughout the school until it led her to the kitchen. She opened the door slowly, still on high alert. Hope let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding when she saw who it was. 

Josie Saltzman, infamous Christmas lover, was humming what Hope assumed was a Christmas carol while she cut out cookies and placed them on a tray. Behind her in the oven was a second sheet, baking, and on the stovetop were cookies cooling on a rack. Hope stepped into the kitchen cautiously, garnering the attention of the brunette, who stopped what she was doing immediately.

“Whatcha up to, Jo?” Hope asked hesitantly.

The siphon wore a bright red apron with the words  _ Lets Get Baked  _ written in a candy cane-esque font, with gingerbread men and snowflakes littered around it. Her hair was down but held in place with a Santa Claus hat, and she was wearing Christmas coloured pyjamas. She had somehow managed to get flour on her nose and a smudge of melted chocolate on the bottom of her right cheek. “Baking,” the brunette explained vaguely.

“Christmas cookies,” Hope elaborated, her brows pulling together in confusion. “In July.”

Josie hummed in agreement, moving around on the other side of the kitchen island while Hope stood a step away from the entryway, dumfounded. 

“Is there any specific reason for--”

“-- Lassie! Make yourself useful and move the hot chocolate off the burner,” Lizzie interrupted, entering from behind Hope carrying a cardboard box labeled  _ decorations  _ in her handwriting. Lizzie wore actual clothes, unlike Josie’s pyjamas, but wasn’t spared entirely as she also wore a Santa Claus hat. She wore her typical scowl, though Hope could tell even Lizzie had been cheered up by Josie’s Christmas spirit.

Hope paused for a second before moving to behind the kitchen and moving the pan of hot chocolate off the back burner. She turned just as Josie was reaching to grab the bag of sugar on the counter to Hope’s left and they bumped into each other. 

The tribrid blushed and apologized at the same time Josie did. Hope moved her hands to Josie’s hips without thinking to move her out of the way and heard the soft gasp from the brunette, causing Hope to jerk her hands back quickly and spin to leave from the other direction instead. 

Lizzie cleared her throat and gave Hope a quick glare before speaking. “Josie, did you want these decorations in our room, or are you decking all of these halls with boughs of holly?”

The brunette paused what she was doing and thought about it for a second before answering, “I’ll decorate the common area and our room, I think. You can just leave it here.” Josie smiled warmly before returning to her activities. 

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” Hope asked, a little helplessly.

The blonde twin rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Josie decided she wanted Christmas in July.” She walked over and grabbed a cookie that was done cooling from the rack. Through a mouthful of cookie she explained, “Christmas in October was, well, a huge mess. Christmas in December was bittersweet because of Christmas in October so-”

“- Christmas in July!” Josie exclaimed happily, smiling wide. She moved to put on oven mitts, made to look like gingerbread hands with icing around the wrists. 

Hope smiled in response to the brunette’s cheerfulness before turning to Lizzie slightly. “Is this something we’re happy for or…?” She whispered. 

Lizzie made a noise noncommittally and rolled her eyes. “My sister is fine. A little energetic and on a sugar high, maybe, but fine.”

  
  


Later that day, when Hope had paused working on one of her paintings and decided to go down to get a few shortbread cookies (and possibly a mug of hot chocolate), she passed a now fully decorated common area. There wasn’t a tree, but the fireplace was home to four generic stockings. Garland and little Christmas figures were on the coffee table. She stood before the steps that led to the common area in awe, impressed with Josie’s handiwork. 

As if summoned just by thinking of her, Josie approached beside her and watched her carefully as if waiting for Hope’s approval.

“It’s amazing, Jo,” Hope stated honestly, watching a faint blush creep onto the brunette’s cheeks. “How have you found the time to do all of this in a few hours?”

Josie’s smile faltered for a second but she recovered quickly. “I had help. Plus, it’s easier for us to do with magic than a normal human.”

Hope’s interest perked at that and she assumed that the mention of magic was what caused the younger girl’s cheeriness to dissipate for a second. She knew she had to tread lightly around the subject, even though she was as curious as she was. “Magic?”

“Yeah,” Josie said, a little breathlessly. “I, uh, I decided I was ready to have magic again. As much as it scared me, having all of that…  _ power _ … it scares me more being completely powerless. I can’t defend myself.”

The auburn haired girl nodded, though she stayed silent to allow the other girl to continue. 

“Maybe that’s why I’m feeling a little, I don’t know, all over the place today? I needed an outlet. Something safe,” Josie finished. She seemed relieved after admitting what had been troubling her all day, as if the weight had been lifted off her shoulders. 

Hope nodded and sighed. Without thinking much, she reached out and held Josie’s hand, tracing her thumb along the other girl’s hand comfortingly. It felt second-nature, an action of familiarity that she had learnt from her mother. The thought left a heavy feeling in her chest and she tried to swallow it away thickly. She cleared her throat. “So Christmas in July is something safe?”

Josie’s eyes had been trained on their joint hands and Hope cleared her throat again, their eyes meeting before both of them looked away quickly, their faces as red as the stockings above the fireplace. 

“Yeah. Yeah, something safe.” The brunette spoke quietly. She seemed to be contemplating saying something else, but instead she said, “I need to go make sure the younger kids don’t kill each other. I had a few of the witches create snow for a snowball fight.”

Hope watched the brunette walk away, her hand feeling the sudden loss of the other girl immediately. 

  
  


After nearly an hour of begging from three of the younger students, Hope reluctantly trudged outside for the first time that day. She would never admit it, but she had a soft spot for kids. They were werewolves or witches or (and she always hopes to any god that will listen that there isn’t) vampires, but they were relatively stress-free. They went to a school that ensured they were safe from monsters and hunters, had the privilege of not having to worry about dying, and got to spend their time laughing with their friends. They had naivety in their eyes, something that Hope had lost a long time ago. 

She used to be bitter because of this -- jealous even. Now, as she grows older and continues to learn, she tries to make sure the kids keep that innocence for as long as possible.

That means going outside and kicking their ass in a snowball fight.

There’s a group of students not too far ahead in a clearing that are shouting and laughing, throwing snowballs back and forth and running around. She spots Josie in the middle of it all, dressed for the summer but still wearing that Santa hat, getting chased down by a group of smaller kids, led by Pedro. 

“I hope you guys didn’t plan on starting this without me,” Hope claims when she reaches the group, crossing her arms over her chest. And yeah, maybe it’s a little friendlier and cheesier than she usually was, and she’d never admit it, but she loved these kids. If they wanted Hope Mikaelson to play in a snowball fight, then Hope Mikaelson played in a snowball fight.

The kids stopped chasing Josie and cheered excitedly, running up to hug Hope and request for her to be on their team. When she finished greeting all of the kids, she looked up to Josie, Lizzie and the five other older students. “Let's say we kick this up a notch,” Hope said with a smirk.

  
  


One of the older werewolves and Hope were the team captains, voted by the rest of the group playing. Gradually, teams were formed and rules were made. This  _ was not _ your average snowball fight. There were two teams of ten. Lizzie and Josie grabbed equipment from the utility shed so that the teams were obvious. Hope’s team wore the Salvatore Stallions’ yellow home jerseys, while the other team wore the blue away jerseys. If you got hit with a snowball, you were out. The playing field was limited to the football field and the few trees surrounding it before the fence border. 

A group of older witches who had seen the game being organized offered to help create soft but compactable snow on the ground, which had been eagerly allowed by the group playing. Soon enough, the game was off.

Hope had been lucky enough to have Josie on her team, but unfortunately had to watch out for Lizzie on the opposing side. She tried to ignore the shiver that ran down her back when Lizzie was picked by the other team captain, eyeing Hope and looking all too excited for the chance to hit the tribrid with a snowball. 

Her team came up with a rough game plan, where a few of the bravest on the team ran out to quickly build a three foot wall of snow to use as shelter on the field. The other team seemed to have had the same strategy, because Lizzie, Pedro, and another younger student were only twenty strides away, attempting to do the same. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a handful of snow roll itself a few feet away from Lizzie and the others. She stopped what she was doing, watching curiously, as it rolled into a perfect snowball and began floating in the air. Before she realized what was happening, the ball launched itself towards the three opponents and landed with a quiet thud, hitting Pedro in the back.

It went silent. Hope watched as he gasped, looking at Lizzie with wide eyes before collapsing to the ground, pretending to be dead. The blonde siphoner scooped him up onto her lap and looked up at the sky. 

She shouted dramatically, “Why, God, why! He was so young!”

Lizzie scanned the area, trying to find who hit Pedro, and landed on Hope. Her eyes narrowed and Hope’s eyes widened. She threw her hands up in the air in surrender and shook her head, trying to show Lizzie that it wasn't her who did it.

One of Hope’s younger teammates tugged on Hope’s shirt and motioned to look behind her. Hope turned her head and saw Josie standing a bit farther back, waving innocently at Lizzie.

_ Oh shit _ , Hope thought to herself.  _ This is war now.  _

  
  


By miraculous (or hapless) fate, Hope and Lizzie were the last ones standing. The game had been going on for hours now, the sun had set and it was nearly pitch black outside. Hope tried to use her abilities to her advantage, working in the darkest parts of the field and trees to avoid being spotted by Lizzie. 

As she crept around one of the larger oak trees and made her way into the field, she heard a twig snap behind her. She whipped around but saw nothing. Hope could hear her heartbeat thumping loudly in her ears, the adrenaline coursing through her. Before she could spin around, she felt something cold and wet hit her back. 

She spun back around, stunned. Lizzie was already cheering, taunting Hope and bragging about how she was officially the best snowball player at Salvatore School. Much like Pedro, Hope dropped to her knees before landing flat on her stomach, pretending to die.

The players who were already out gathered around, some on Hope’s team groaning in disappointment at the loss. A few giggled at Hope’s antics.

Josie ran up to Hope and turned her over so that she was on her back. Hope kept her eyes screwed shut, even though she couldn’t help her smile. She felt Josie cup her face, thumb tracing her cheekbone. “The blue team has won,” Josie said solemnly.

“Wait!” One of the younger kids shouted. “Isn’t Hope a vampire? She isn’t gone yet, right?”

Hope felt the brunette think about that statement for a moment before admitting, “I guess she  _ would _ have to be hit twice.”

She heard Lizzie yell in distaste about the idea and stifled a laugh. She felt Josie give her a little shove to tell her to be quiet. 

“Do we wait for Hope to transform?” One of the older witches asked.

“Is she going to need fake blood?” Another student asked.

“This doesn’t make any sense!” Lizzie exclaimed.

Hope heard Pedro try to get the group’s attention but wasn’t having any success. Breaking character she quickly said, “ _ Guys Pedro’s trying to speak _ .”

Josie laughed while the rest of the group went quiet. 

“What if she wakes up with a kiss instead?” He offered.

Hope facepalmed, suddenly wishing she hadn’t given Pedro an opportunity to give his idea. She felt her cheeks burn up from embarrassment. 

The brunette siphoner who was holding Hope in her hands went rigid. “No, it’s okay, the blue team wins. Hope is dead.”

The blue team cheered again while Hope and Josie’s team groaned, and both girls hoped it’s too dark out for anyone to see how red their cheeks were.

  
  


Josie had organized a movie viewing that night in the commons, with a projector and popcorn and hot chocolate. Once the teams entered the school, students cleaned up and put on their pyjamas before heading back down to the main floor to watch the movie. Only twenty or so students stayed at the Salvatore school year-round, and not all of them had wanted to enjoy the Christmas festivities, so it was easy fitting the students on couches and chairs.

An older witch had placed a DVD in and they all sat back and watched a really old romantic Christmas movie,  _ Love Actually _ . Hope had settled in beside Josie easily, the two girls eventually cuddling a little on their side of the couch.

  
  


Hope had offered to help clean up, which Lizzie interpreted as her no longer needing to help anymore, so it left Hope and Josie alone for the second time that day.

They didn’t have to walk the projector back out to the old mill that late at night and magic sped the process up significantly. It went by almost too fast, because before she knew it, Josie had put away the last of the decorations and the two of them stood awkwardly across from each other.

“We have one more decoration,” Josie stated, eyes glancing upwards towards the roof. 

Hope followed her line of sight and spotted the mistletoe, hung up right in the middle of the room, so high up that only someone who knew it was there could even really see it. “Oh.”

She watched as Josie rang her hands together nervously, her cheeks bright red. Hope smiled and took a step closer, shortening the space between them. 

“I think we have to honour tradition,” Hope spoke softly, almost afraid to scare Josie away.

The brunette nodded surely, eyes fluttering shut and leaning forward slightly. Hope followed suit and captured Josie’s lips with her own, relishing in the feeling of Josie’s lips against hers. 

“Merry Christmas, Hope,” Josie said with a warm smile.

“Merry Christmas, Josie.”


End file.
